Smith has played for England Under-19s

Lancashire head coach Peter Moores has backed opener Tom Smith to come good after several poor Championship scores.

The 23-year-old left-hander averaged just 8.5 with the bat after four four-day games, though he has made two FP Trophy half-centuries.

Moores told BBC Radio Manchester: "We've backed Tom to do it because it balances our team and he has shown he is a very good player.

"I think we've seen that in the one-day stuff. I think Tom is playing well."

"You judge a player on how he's playing. Tom's developing and learning quickly. Technically, he stands up tall and plays up the ground which is what you want your openers to do," he added.

"Tom's just got to keep doing his work. You say to all the lads: 'Listen, you're scoring runs, it doesn't matter what the form of the game it is - to score runs you've got to be playing well.' He's in good form and he's got to take that forward with him.

"It's funny, isn't it? Paul Horton had a similar situation where he hadn't really got off to many starts and then he came into the Somerset game and he got two seventies or whatever and played well."

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